Nantan Meteorite
- Discovered in 1958
- Fell to Earth in the year 1516
- Class: Meteoric Iron
- Box measure 6" x 8" x 1"
- Each meteorite specimen is unique but will be equal to the one pictured
* The Nantan Meteorite *
The Nantan meteorite is an iron meteorite. Iron meteorites, also known as siderites, or ferrous meteorites, are a type of meteorites that consist overwhelmingly of an iron–nickel alloy known as meteoric iron that usually consists of two mineral phases: kamacite and taenite. Iron meteorites originate from cores of planetesimals.The iron found in iron meteorites was one of the earliest sources of usable iron available to humans, before the development of smelting that signaled the beginning of the Iron Age.
* Discovery *
The fall of the meteorite might have been observed in 1516, but it is difficult to assess if this event is connected with the pieces that were retrieved in 1958.
The meteorite burst during passage through the atmosphere and the pieces were scattered in a strewn field 28 kilometres (17 mi) long and 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) wide near the city of Nantan, Nandan County, Guangxi (China). The Nantan meteorite was named after the city.
The fragments were not retrieved until the 1950s when they were gathered for smelting to make metal for the growing industrialization of China.
* What is a Meteorite? *
A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a comet, asteroid, or meteoroid, that originates in outer space and survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of a planet or moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical interactions with the atmospheric gases cause it to heat up and radiate energy. It then becomes a meteor and forms a fireball, also known as a shooting star or falling star; astronomers call the brightest examples "bolides". Once it settles on the larger body's surface, the meteor becomes a meteorite. Meteorites vary greatly in size. For geologists, a bolide is a meteorite large enough to create an impact crater.
